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The Sunday Salon: The waiting-for-holidays edition

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Good morning, Sunday Saloners! I've been back from the holidays/vacation to Miami/Key West for a few days now, but I'm still in a holiday mood. At this rate, the Christmas holidays cannot come soon enough. Even though we did a lot of things and were mostly outside during the holidays, I felt very refreshed by the time I got back home, which is strange for me because I'm usually in for quiet vacations.

I did visit Ernest Hemmingway's house in Key West while we were there, and boy, you would be amazed by the number of cats in the house. Snuggling in every corner, a few coming up to be petted, but most keeping to themselves and not really enjoying the tourist's intrusions. There was one that wanted to be petted but threw a hell of a peacock's arrogant attitude while getting a massage. There was another one snuggling inside a shelf in a bookstore. Adorable, really. Though, being a dog person, part of me wondered what a ruckus there wound have been if they were dogs not cats. But then, the dogs wouldn't stay in a house, would they?

Courtesy my husband's brother, we also got to lunch on a cruise ship. This was my first time on one, and I haven't been able to get the idea of a cruise ship out of my head. They even have a library on board - who would have ever thought that? Interestingly, they had a roller coaster as well on the top deck. I cannot imagine what it would be like roller coasting in the middle of an ocean. Seasickness plus dizziness would be a crazy mix.

I haven't been reading much lately. I read a chunk during the last three months for a challenge, and had to put aside tons of other things like knitting, interior decorating, reading the New Yorker, etc. I have a feeling I will be doing very little of reading this month. Which is fine by me. I have a ton of books to review and I cannot wait to post them. I've been knitting all day yesterday and plan to do more today. I started making a cowl for my dog but it turned out to be too tiny for her neck in the end. I swear her neck just thickened after I measured it. Oh well. The husband and I are also planning to do some work around the house this month though we haven't really thought much about it.

19 comments:

Sounds like you had a great trip! I knew there were a lot of cats at Hemingway's place when he lived there but I had no idea they were still all over the place. That's not something you usually see at a tourist site!

A roller coaster on a cruise ship just sounds crazy!! That's way too much movement for me. I'm hoping to read The Goldfinch, Life After Life, and The Golem and the Jinni before the end of the year too. Want to do a read-along of one of them?

I can't even picture a roller coaster on a cruise ship! All I'd be able to think of would be falling into the water -- though in fairness I suppose that differs from what I am thinking of on a regular roller coaster only in that I would be imagining dying from impact with water, rather than impact with concrete. :p

Trust me, the cruise started sounding infinitely more appealing after I realized that they had a library. Also, they have many retreat areas on the top deck, where you can sit all morning and read in silence. Amazing!

I'm not usually one to want to visit important people's homes and such. Though I do love visiting castles. But seeing so many cats at Hemmingway's homes made it such a sweet place to visit. That was a first for me.

You'll be surprised that the cruises aren't really very expensive, so long as you go for discounts or deals. They are affordable, costing the same as any other vacation you may take. The problem is the costs add up once you start living in the cruise, because of all the features they provide.

I have never been on a real cruise ship either (I don't count the low budget one for the overnight sail between Denmark and England), but I'd like to go on one to see the amenities. I seem to get my reading done when we go to dance conventions, especially the ones involving a plane ride!

I went to the mall the other day and it was so crowded with shoppers. Duh, what did I expect? But still it was insane. Our small-town mall isn't usually that crowded on a regular day. It's like everyone woke up from a mass hibernation or something.